Harris campaign raised $1 billion, ends $20 million in debt: Reports
Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign has ended in financial turmoil, according to multiple media reports. Despite raising over $1 billion, the campaign has reportedly finished at least $20 million in debt.
Politico’s Christopher Cadelago reported that two sources familiar with the situation confirmed Harris’ campaign was $20 million in debt after raising more than $1 billion and having $118 million remaining in the bank as of Oct. 16.
Kamala Harris's campaign ended with at least $20 million in debt, per two sources familiar. Harris raised over $1 billion and had $118 million in the bank as of Oct. 16.
Federal Election Commission filings show the campaign raised a total of more than $1 billion and spent approximately $900 million by mid-October. However, by the end of the month, even the remaining funds were depleted and then some.
In contrast, Harris raised more than twice as much money as President-elect Donald Trump. FEC filings show Trump’s campaign raised less than $400 million and still had a cash reserve of $36 million.
Breitbart News also spoke with multiple sources inside the Harris campaign, who confirmed the $20 million debt. Those sources largely blamed campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon for the financial troubles.
“People didn’t like working with her,” a campaign staffer told Breitbart. “Many people on the campaign felt like we lost because Kamala wasn’t allowed to run her campaign. They were running Joe Biden’s campaign instead of a Kamala campaign. Obnoxious and very much a gatekeeper and interfering with the vice president’s people who were trying to do their job.”
Staffers were reportedly unhappy with the handling of finances and some claimed they were still waiting on overdue payments for their work.
When tracking the $1 billion spent by the Harris campaign, a large portion, nearly $700 million, went toward advertising, according to ad-tracking company AdImpact.
In October, the campaign spent six figures on flying banners over four NFL games in swing states, according to The New York Times. In the final weeks before the election, the campaign spent nearly $500,000 a day on ads displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere in Nevada, a key swing state, according to The Guardian.
Breitbart sources also pointed to high-profile concerts featuring artists like Katy Perry, Lizzo and Eminem as significant expenditures. Staffers said these events were largely the idea of O’Malley Dillon.
Facing $20 million in debt, Harris’ deputy campaign manager is reportedly “shopping Kamala Harris’ fundraising email list to anyone willing to pay” in an effort to recover the campaign’s losses, according to Breitbart’s report.
Americans saw an increase in robocalls in October, receiving nearly 4.9 billion of them due to the presidential election. According to data released Friday, Nov. 8, by YouMail, October was the highest month in volume for robocalls since August 2023.
October’s nearly 5 billion robocalls were a 9.5% increase from September. October averaged 158.4 million robocalls per day, and included calls like this:
Hi, this is Jennifer. I’m an underwriter with our approval department. I’m just calling to let you know it appears you’ve been prequalified for a personal loan of up to $72,000 with payments starting as low as $5.30 a month.
Robocall message
YouMail said most of the increase was election-driven.
Telemarketing calls rose over 21% from September and scams jumped around 18%. Both types make up almost half of all October robocalls.
The Federal Trade Commission said robocalls are illegal when they are sales messages from companies that did not get written permission to call.
The agency is offering these steps on how to handle unwanted robocalls:
Hang up. Don’t press any number or call back.
Don’t trust caller ID. It can be faked.
Get call blocking apps or services. This will help you get fewer robocalls.
YouMail said it determined its figures by reviewing robocall traffic attempts to get through to its millions of users on its robocall blocking app.
“We’ve seen a big jump in robocalls over the past few months, however 2024 continues to be 3% lower than 2023,” YouMail CEO Alex Quilici said in a statement.
Quilici said, with election season winding down, YouMail fully expects “to see volumes drop materially over the next few months.”
Putin praises Trump as leaders eye breakthrough in Ukraine conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin broke his silence on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, offering congratulations and praise while signaling a readiness to talk. With Russia’s war in Ukraine continuing, Putin highlighted Trump’s campaign promises to ease tensions but emphasized that Moscow’s demands remain unchanged.
Speaking at a meeting in Sochi, Putin congratulated Trump on his election victory and described the president-elect’s response to a July assassination attempt as “courageous and manly.” Despite the remarks, the two leaders had not spoken as of the time of publication.
Putin acknowledged Trump’s campaign promises to improve ties with Russia and address the war in Ukraine, though he noted these were election statements. The Kremlin reiterated its firm demands that Ukraine abandon NATO aspirations and withdraw troops from regions claimed by Russia. Kremlin officials emphasized that these terms are nonnegotiable, even as Putin expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue.
Trump’s campaign statements about ending the war within 24 hours have fueled speculation about his approach. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the claim, stating that any rapid deal would likely come at a significant cost to Ukraine.
Former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker suggested that any resolution would require convincing Putin that the conflict is no longer sustainable.
Analysts remain divided on how Trump will handle the conflict. Some believe he could pressure Putin by increasing U.S. oil production or establishing a lend-lease program to arm Ukraine. Others argue that Trump’s admiration for Putin could result in decisions detrimental to Ukraine.
Relations between Moscow and Washington are currently at a historic low, strained by U.S. sanctions and military support for Ukraine.
Trump names campaign manager Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff
Donald Trump makes his first staffing announcement as president-elect, naming his White House chief of staff. And a federal judge in Texas makes a ruling concerning undocumented immigrants married to American citizens. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Nov. 8, 2024.
Trump names campaign manager Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 7, 2024
She will become the first woman to hold the job of chief of staff when Trump takes office on Jan. 20. It is a position considered to be the second most powerful job in Washington — behind the presidency.
Wiles, the daughter of the late NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall, also ran Trump’s campaign in the state of Florida during the 2016 and 2020 elections. Her political career dates back to Ronald Reagan’s years, when she worked as a campaign scheduler for his 1980 presidential bid.
In a statement, Trump said, “Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns. Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to make America great again.”
In the coming days, the president-elect is set to begin reviewing other names to build out his team, including filling cabinet positions. His son Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News the key factor each candidate must have is delivering on his father’s message and not someone who “thinks they know better.”
The GOP picked up a seat in Pennsylvania with several media outlets projecting Dave McCormick defeated Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey. Republicans now hold 53 seats in the chamber with two races, one in Nevada and one in Arizona, still to be called.
California governor calls special session to protect liberal policies
California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has called a special legislative session to protect the state’s liberal policies ahead of a second Trump presidency. Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday they’re preparing to “protect California values” against the incoming administration.
California is ready to fight.
I just called an emergency special session to help bolster our legal resources and protect our state against any unlawful actions by the incoming Trump Administration.
Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate… pic.twitter.com/fIBPKsehot
“We know to take Trump at his word when he says he’ll roll back environmental protections, go after our immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, attack our civil rights and restrict access to essential reproductive care,” Bonta said. “Mr. Trump repeatedly overstepped his authority between 2016 and 2020. There’s no reason to think he won’t do it again. We checked him and we stopped him, and we pushed him back into his box when he tried to step out of it.”
The California special session is scheduled to start Dec. 2. Newsom is also calling on the state legislature to give the attorney general’s office more funding to battle federal challenges.
In his ruling on Thursday, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker — who was appointed by President-elect Trump during his first term — said Congress has not given the executive branch the authority to implement such a policy. Campbell Barker had previously put an administrative hold on the regulation as he considered the lawsuit, which was brought by Texas and 15 other states.
The policy, which the Biden administration called “Keeping Families Together,” would have applied to spouses who have been living in the country for 10 years, as well as stepchildren. It could have affected between 750,000 and 800,000 people.
3 arrested in former ‘One Direction’ singer Liam Payne’s death
In a press release, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office said authorities had arrested an employee at the hotel where Payne fell to his death last month, an alleged drug dealer, and a person who “accompanied the artist daily during his stay in the city of Buenos Aires.”
Officials said at least four supplies of narcotics were “conclusively proven” to have been addressed to Payne during his stay at the Casa Sur hotel between Oct. 13 and 16. Payne fell from a third-floor balcony of the hotel on Oct. 16.
Thursday’s report revealed that in the 72 hours before he died, Payne had alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription anti-depressant in his system.
The hotel employee and alleged dealer are both charged with providing narcotics while the third person is charged with providing narcotics and abandonment of a person followed by death.
Man behind AOL’S iconic ‘you’ve got mail’ dies at 74
An iconic voice that defined a generation in technology has died.
Elwood Edwards, endearingly known as AOL’s “You’ve got mail” guy, died Tuesday. Nov. 5, at the age of 74 after suffering from a “long illness,” according to an announcement by local news station WKYC-TV in Cleveland, Ohio.
Edwards worked there as a graphics and camera operator, among other roles. According to the announcement, made Thursday, he died one day before his 75th birthday.
“Yesterday, I spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory, and I assured him that I’d direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition,” Biden said. “That’s what the American people deserve.”
The president also acknowledged there are different feelings about the results, but said it’s important to accept the choice.
“You can’t love your country only when you win, you can’t love your neighbor only when you agree,” Biden added. “Something I think you can do no matter who you voted for is see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans.”
Biden praised Harris for her campaign, saying he respects her character.
He also emphasized the impact of his administration and said there’s still work to be done in his last 10 weeks before he leaves office.
Some of the work includes providing more aid to Ukraine and passing a final government spending bill.
Famous ‘I Voted’ sticker makes way for new designs
The famous “I Voted” sticker has become part of the voting process. It all started with a sketch on a dining room table 37 years ago.
Janet Boudreau of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was the mastermind the sticker design. In a recent interview with AARP, Boudreau explained that she thought of the design in 1987 shortly after purchasing an election supply business from her father for $1.
At the time, the company only had three products, but soon she changed things up. She created a lineup of 1,000 products including ballot boxes and security seals.
But it turned out, it was one of her first five ideas she came up with that took off, the “I Voted” sticker. Boudreau said by 2000, her company was selling more than 100 million stickers in every midterm and general election year.
Boudreau’s wasn’t the first “I Voted” sticker. She recalled seeing a black-and-white design before she eventually drew her own. And hers was certainly not the last.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wore a werewolf sticker design on her shirt as she gave election updates Monday, Nov. 4.
The werewolf sticker was created by a 12-year-old named Jane. Her design garnered the most votes in a contest with more than 20,000 statewide among the nearly 60,000 votes cast.
Boudreau told The Associated Press she is all for the younger generation creating new “I Voted” stickers and understanding the power of voting.
Boudreau sold her company in 2015, but she still is able to see her finest creation every time she goes to the voting booth. She told AARP, “Grown adults enjoy getting stickers. That just makes me happy.”
Presidential candidates look for path to 270 electoral votes
Millions of Americans are heading to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 5, to elect the next president. While the candidates are hoping to be the more popular choice among voters, it’s the electoral votes they are seeking most.
There are multiple paths to victory for both candidates. And it’s all about reaching that number of 270.
The seven battleground states that could go either way are Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona. They make up a combined 93 electoral votes.
Polling indicates the candidates are anywhere from less than 1% to about 2% apart in each of those states. That’s within the margin of error, meaning they could truly go either way.
But for purposes of this conversation, let’s have it play out exactly the way the FiveThirtyEight average of polls says it will.
Under that scenario, Trump wins with 287 electoral votes by taking Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Harris takes Michigan and Wisconsin.
The polling average shows Trump is less than a point ahead of Harris in Pennsylvania. If that goes blue and everything else stays the same, Harris wins 270 to 268. That’s how close this is.
If you like to place bets, it’s truly a tough call as to who to put your money on.
One thing we can safely say is, like the 11,000-vote difference in Michigan in 2016 and Georgia in 2020, the polls indicate some of these states will be decided by less than a percent, possibly even less than half of a percent.
Markets are more uncertain about Trump victory in final days
Ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 5, presidential election, the word of the week is “uncertainty.” Polls predict drastically different outcomes, like the Des Moines Register poll that has Vice President Kamala Harris leading in the deep-red state of Iowa.
“This race is filled with uncertainty today,” political strategist David Axelrod said.
And that uncertainty is showing up in the markets. From predictions, to cryptocurrencies, to a Donald Trump stock market indicator, everything’s a bit haywire the closer it gets to polls closing on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Let’s start with the predictions market. This is a newer one as Americans can now bet on the outcome of the presidential election.
Looking at Kalshi, from Oct. 10 to Oct. 29, the odds on former President Donald Trump and Harris went from 50-50 to Trump being up about 65% to 35%. Then, in the four days that followed, Trump’s odds plunged until Harris took a brief lead. On the day before the election, Trump has rebounded, now up 57% to 43% as of Monday, Nov. 4.
It’s not just the official predictions markets where investors are placing their bets. In October 2024, markets saw significant movement in areas investors refer to as the “Trump trade.”
Take Bitcoin, which has had a pretty outstanding year. Bitcoin has become part of the Trump trade after Trump fully embraced cryptocurrencies earlier this year. Like prediction markets, the price of Bitcoin peaked on Oct. 29 at around $73,000. Since then, enthusiasm has pared back to around $68,000 as of Monday morning.
Nothing is more indicative of the trade around the former president than what has become his own meme stock. DJT, the ticker symbol for Trump Media and Technology Group, has traded less on the fundamentals and more on Trump’s electability. The stock is up 90% over the past month, but again, peaked on Oct. 29. In the past 5 days, it’s fallen more than 40%.
The name of the game is volatility. In October, it seemed markets of all kinds were increasingly positioning for a Trump victory. In the final stretch, uncertainty has set in. The volatility index, the VIX, measures just this. It’s also called the fear index. It’s trading above its 200-day average.
The dollar dropped and bonds rallied as traders realigned expectations for Tuesday. And the election isn’t the only market mover this week. On Thursday, Nov. 7, the Federal Reserve will make its next rate cut decision. Markets are expecting a quarter-point cut.
DC, Trump and Harris beef up security over fears of Election Day violence
Parts of Washington D.C. were fortified and former President Donald Trump’s election headquarters in Florida beefed up security on Sunday, Nov. 3, just ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The moves come as fears of Election Day violence grows in a post-Jan. 6, 2021 world and an assassination attempt against Trump in July.
Law enforcement in Washington D.C. is not taking any chances this year after deadly riots during the 2020 election, when certification of President Joe Biden’s win got underway.
All 3,300 Metropolitan Police Department officers will be mobilized and work 12-hour shifts through Election Day, though officials maintain that there is currently no credible threat.
Meanwhile, private security firms are also beefing up efforts. One security firm says it’s deploying around 2,000 private personnel for 12-hour shifts at clients’ buildings surrounding the White House.
Both Trump and Harris’ election watch parties are being heavily guarded as well. Trump’s election base will be at West Palm Beach, Florida’s convention center, where the U.S. Secret Service confirmed “physical barriers” are in place.
First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump flew out of New York City on Sunday, Nov. 3, to join the former president in Florida to watch the election results.
Furthermore, local businesses are also boarding up windows and others are erecting walls. Establishments in the district report fewer customers as Election Day approaches. Some business owners believe the decline is over Election Day anxiety among Americans as many would rather stay in the safety of their homes.
Trump, Harris could start White House transition at same time. Here’s how.
The 2024 presidential election is just days away now and once America chooses who our next leader will be, it’ll be 77 days until they officially take office. During that time, the winner will get their administration ready to take over from President Joe Biden’s.
What was historically a time of bipartisanship ended up being fraught with tension in 2020. That year, then-President Donald Trump and his allies fought to overturn the election results.
The group falsely claimed Biden’s win was stolen and delayed the transition. Now, a new law will start the transition between administrations sooner, no matter who wins.
That means there could potentially be two very different governments waiting in the wings for weeks to take over.
Before the 2022 Presidential Transition Improvement Act became law, the head of the General Services Administration (GSA) had to give the OK. In 2020, the administrator said she couldn’t do that because Trump was still challenging his loss in court.
The law effectively means the GSA no longer has to give the go-ahead before allowing the candidate or candidates to get transition support services.
It also states services for each candidate will continue until “significant legal challenges” have been “substantially resolved,” or electors from each state meet in mid-December to formally choose an Electoral College winner.